Palaeolithic

It is a startling thought that (thanks to a quirk of the publishing process) this is the last issue of CA with 2017 as the cover date. There is plenty to look forward to in the new year though (not least our annual conference, 23-24 February – save the date!), even as we continue to […]

If you gazed out across the English Channel 15,000 years ago, the view would be very different to what you might expect today. Excavations in Jersey have uncovered the remains of a Magdalenian hunter-gatherer campsite, founded long before the Channel Island was surrounded by sea.

It has long been known that the early humans who inhabited Gough’s Cave, Somerset, around 15,000 years ago practised cannibalism and modified certain human remains (such as turning skulls into cups for possibly ceremonial purposes). Now a newly published study focusing on an arm bone from the same assemblage has described evidence for what may […]

Our cover story examines an unsuspected crypt discovered in a former church during redevelopment work. Although the space was too dangerous to enter, ingenious remote survey revealed that the crypt still contains numerous coffins, including at least two Archbishops of Canterbury. It is caverns rather than crypts that have surrendered the secrets of the humans […]

Mark White (ed.) Oxford Archaeology, £25 ISBN 978-0904220773 Review George Nash This much-anticipated book, funded by the former Aggregates Levy Sustainability Fund (ALSF), is a readable account of the diverse Palaeolithic landscapes of southern Britain, as uncovered through excavation and scientific investigation. The ALSF was an extremely worthwhile scheme that provided significant funding for archaeological […]